When a motor vehicle is driven to a public charging pole, for example, or is driven into a charging park or into a filling station, the user of the motor vehicle parks in front of or next to the charging pole or fuel pump, steps out, and opens the covering apparatus, that is, for example, the charging flap or fuel tank cover in order to connect the charging cable or the fuel pump nozzle to the motor vehicle.
In many motor vehicles, the covering apparatus is still opened manually, but ever more often it can be opened electrically. When, for example, a pushbutton is pressed, it is possible, for example, to lower a charging flap and release the charging socket in order to plug in the charging cable.
Before plugging in the charging cable or before inserting the fuel pump nozzle, the user of the motor vehicle first has to step out and then go to the covering apparatus and either open it completely or flip it open completely in order that an access to the connection element is freed. If the user of the motor vehicle is especially in a hurry, this process can cost unnecessary time.
DE 10 2015 213 160 A1 describes a robot for automatically plugging a charging plug into an interface of a vehicle. This presupposes that such a robot is present at the charging station or filling station and is available immediately.
DE 10 2010 006 211 A1 describes a vehicle having flap that closes automatically due to a closing command, wherein the flap can be controlled by use of an operating switch.
Known from DE 199 35 454 A1 is a device for automatically opening and closing a filling neck of a motor vehicle, wherein a tank flap can be moved mechanically.
The drawbacks mentioned above cannot be improved by means of these methods.